On the very last day of shooting [of The Last King of Scotlang], I remember wanting to get the [Idi Amin] character out of me right away, as much as I could. You literally take a bath to wash him off you. Luckily, I went into another part not so long afterwards, so I was kind of able to push it away a little bit. But speech patterns, and little sounds, particularly colloquial things, like the way you ask questions or might respond, were sticking with me, probably because I'd worked so hard to make it a part of my everyday way of expressing myself.

In my career, I've had people talking about different things many times, but then not get nominated.

I've always wanted to do characters that would help me find my connection with others and connect all of us together. You always want the energy of the character, the spirit of the person, to enter you.

Things are shifting; man is evolving in many different ways. The Internet has created a portal for people to connect with each other in a way they never could have before. When it comes to African-American or black films, it's different because there is a model that you can actually look at, an equation that shows that these films earn money.

I was trying to capture this man's [Idi Amin] energy, and I did a lot of research in studying him. I tried to capture his 'Warrior King' energy inside of me as much as possible.

I think the biggest thing that motivates me when I'm choosing a part is a role that will help me continue to grow as a person and as an artist, and a role that will deepen my understanding of humanity, and my connection to it.

I found the people to be very kind and generous. It was unique because the crew was mainly Ugandan [filming The Last King of Scotland]. They had never done a film before. So, they were learning the process of making films, but at the same time they were also helping with the authenticity of the film.